paint the fire
by Immoroita
Summary: When Mike has to leave Graceland to go to D.C., he never looks back. But there's always been something nagging at him that he only discovers when he returns to Graceland a few years later.—MikeCharlie


**Author's Note: **Since Graceland has only got 2 episodes aired right now, this may be inaccurate later on. So please, remember that I wrote this on the 16th of June, 2013, before you write any disparaging reviews.

**Rating: **T

**Summary: **When Mike has to leave Graceland to go to D.C., he never looks back. But there's always been something nagging at him that he only discovers when he returns to Graceland a few years later. Mike/Charlie.

* * *

When Mike gets the letter that says he's being transferred to D.C., it's a dream come true.

He tears through the halls of Graceland, shouting out the news at 7 in the morning. Everyone comes downstairs to complain about the racket he's making so early, but when they find out why he's doing it, they decide to let it slide, just this once.

Lauren, Johnny, Paige and DJ are all happy for him and congratulate him. Briggs gives him a smile, a handshake, and a few words of encouragement. Mike reassures them over and over that he'll visit them once he moves up the ranks and becomes Director (hopefully).

Charlie just looks at him sideways across the room and takes a sip of coffee. When Mike catches her eye, she gives him a small smile, and returns her attention to her cup of coffee, stirring it idly. Mike lets his gaze linger for a moment more before turning away.

There's something on Charlie's mind, he can tell, but for now he puts it down to the fact that she's never been a morning person and probably never will be, not even if the house is on fire. So he doesn't take any notice of her just yet and concentrates instead on Paige planning an extravagant outing to her favorite bar as a means of celebration.

* * *

The party at the bar is just composed of the seven of them, but Mike thinks it more appropriate than anything else. Charlie seems to have cheered up a bit, for which he's grateful, and starts to think it was because it was way too early for her to be capable of rational thought.

She does seem quieter than usual, though, but Mike doesn't find it too troubling. She's probably just worried about the upcoming case that the directors have put her up to, he thinks, and continues celebrating with the others.

Paige has had too much to drink and is sloppily using the worst pick-up lines Mike has ever heard on Johnny, who laughs it off as he usually does and just goes with it. Lauren and Briggs discuss a case that she's recently come out of. And DJ is somewhere flirting with some girl on the other side of the club.

Nothing's different, really, so why should Mike be worried about Charlie?

_You just worry too much, Warren._

* * *

The day Mike has to leave Graceland is… normal. None of the others seem all that fazed by his imminent departure, although of course this is probably just a façade (or so he hopes). They're all masterful liars, as he's come to know.

Nobody treats him any differently - just for the hell of it, he drinks from DJ's milk carton and the threat of being shot hangs over his head. Lauren still scolds him for leaving a mess all over Donnie's old room. Johnny still teases him, Paige shows him etchy magazines with models in bikinis and lingerie, and Briggs is as impassive as ever.

At the rate things are going, Mike expects Charlie to be as grumpy and wry as she usually is, but she just yawns and announces that she's going to lie around until Mike has to leave.

Now, here's the moment where Mike should have an epiphany about how Charlie's behaving, but being dense, he brushes it off as usual, and makes preparations to leave Graceland.

The vehicle that'll take him to the airport arrives, and everybody meets him there to say their goodbyes. They are predictable. Paige hugs him and wishes him good luck with finding a girlfriend, Johnny claps him on the shoulder, Lauren gives him a warmer-than-usual smile, DJ gives him a carton of milk, of all things, and Briggs shakes his hand and wishes him all the best.

Charlie's the last one, and she smiles at him before reminding him to kick major ass over in Washington.

Mike spares each of them only a fleeting glance before disappearing into the car, which trundles off, and he's afraid to look back or he might regret leaving.

* * *

Mike's time in D.C. is short-lived. He manages to piss off a higher-up on his seventh month working there and is immediately removed and shipped off to San Francisco. He's constantly reminded of the insult that he flung at his boss. It's the worst mistake he's ever made in his life, and he regrets it more than anything. But he can't change the past, and he has to be content with working in San Francisco now.

He stays for over four years, until it becomes so bland and boring that his mind has been completely straightened out, and he doesn't know just what he lives for. The daily routine that he goes through is something that he does mindlessly now. Mike wonders every day whether this is what he's doomed to be - a failure in life who is stuck in a dead-end job in San Francisco.

Then he gets the news from his boss: he's going back to Graceland.

At first he isn't sure what to think of it - he's forgotten entirely about the house on the beach. There were a few people with him, weren't there? There was Briggs, and there was Lauren, and Johnny, and Paige, and DJ.

And Charlie.

She is the one face in his past that he can't quite fit into the puzzle that he's assembled hurriedly. Of course he remembers what they all were to him - colleagues, roommates, and friends. He remembers the nights they sat around flickering fires, trading stories of the day.

But more than anything, Mike remembers Charlie's face.

* * *

Johnny comes running up at the airport to pick him up and roars a welcome at him, slapping him on the back, between the shoulderblades. Mike is still out of it and stumbles, staring at Johnny in disbelief. He follows his former roommate anyway, listening to his wild stories in a daze.

They get to Graceland and it's a bit different. Lauren's been promoted and _she's_ moved to D.C., Briggs has been transferred to California, and DJ's off in Mexico. The only ones left of the old crowd are Johnny, Paige, and Charlie. Paige is at a karaoke bar and Charlie's down on the beach, or so Johnny informs Mike.

Johnny wants him to stay and bombs him with questions, but Mike puts his stuff down and says he's going to get some fresh air. He meets the three new people on the way - Gigi, Rob, and Karen - and heads out to the beach.

Charlie's easy to spot, and Mike heads for her immediately. She's sitting on a towel on the beach, yawning and reading a book. He stoops down next to her while she hasn't noticed yet, and drapes an arm around her shoulders.

She yelps and turns to look at him, and as soon as she sees who it is, a whole range of expressions run over her face. But soon she's normal again, and smiles. Mike smiles back, and pulls her in for a hug. Charlie laughs and hugs him back. She doesn't ask questions, for which Mike is grateful.

He holds her gaze for a long time (longer than is socially acceptable, he thinks), and finally Charlie looks away, back at her book, and laughs a little. She tells him to go back to the house and meet the new people.

Mike stands up and heads back to Graceland. Just before he leaves the beach, he looks back to see Charlie sitting on her towel and reading intently.

Then he turns and walks to the house, and doesn't look back.


End file.
